WASHINGTON, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- The United States dropped its $500 million failed effort to train and equip large groups of moderate Syrian rebels in the fight against the Islamic State, instead focusing on vetting and equipping selected leaders of existing rebel groups to battle the militants.
The announcement Friday marks the end to the short-lived training program that produced few rebels to combat the IS. The United States will begin vetting and training group leaders and giving them "basic equipment packages," Christine Wormuth, undersecretary of defense for policy told reporters Friday in Washington.